Luke 14: 28~31 "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it "lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, "saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ "Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

We read of those that considered first and counted the cost. It involves bowing to His yoke, surrendering to His Lordship, and living for His glory. Coming to Christ with a repentant heart involves the turning of our backs upon the world and identifying ourselves with the one the world has despised and rejected.

Do you know the origin of excuses? You will find it way back in Eden. When Adam had sinned, he tried to excuse himself. "The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." He tried to lay the blame on God, Eve tried to lay it on the serpent; and down to the present time, men and women, with one consent, begin to make excuse.

Luke 14: 16~20
-material things
-jobs, occupations, business
-family ties, social relationships

Remember that these men Luke tells us about were not invited to a funeral, or to hear some simple lecture or sermon; they were not invited to visit an hospital, or a prison, to witness some terrible scene or execution — something that would have pained them. It was to go to a feast. The Gospel is represented in the Bible as a feast.

Did you ever stop to think what would take place if God should take, at his word, everyone who makes excuse? — if He were to say, "Yes, if you want to be excused from this feast, I will excuse you," and with the next stroke should sweep them all from the face of the earth?

It is a very solemn thought that God will excuse you if you want to be excused